DENVER (AP) — A man charged in the death of his 13-year-old son in Colorado nearly a decade ago seemed uninterested in the search for the boy after he disappeared, a witness testified Monday.
Mark Redwine, 59, is on trial on charges of second-degree murder and child abuse resulting in the death of Dylan Redwine, who was reported missing on Nov. 19, 2012 while on a court-ordered Thanksgiving visit to his home outside the small city of Durango.
The boy’s body was found in 2013 a few miles from his father’s home. Prosecutors claim Redwine killed Dylan the night before he was reported missing during a confrontation over photos showing the elder Redwine eating feces from a diaper.
Redwine told investigators that Dylan was asleep when Redwine woke up that morning and that he returned from errands to find his son gone.
When Redwine first contacted law enforcement about Dylan’s disappearance, he declined to make a formal police report, Sgt. Daniel Abdella of the Bayfield Marshal’s Office testified. A search began that evening after Redwine’s ex-wife made the formal report, The Denver Post reported.
When searchers arrived at Redwine’s home — he appeared “laid back” and “nonchalant” — not frantic the way most parents of missing children are, retired Upper Pine River Fire Protection District Deputy Chief Roy Vreeland testified.
Redwine stayed in his home during the initial search and turned off the lights around 11 p.m. as searchers looked for the boy until about 1 a.m., Vreeland said.
Redwine’s public defenders have suggested that Redwine had been asked to keep his distance from the search to let crews do their work.
Vreeland testified that he worked with a dog to try to track Dylan’s scent using a pillowcase that Redwine said his son had used but that the dog struggled to pick up any trails.
None of the son’s belongings — including his backpack, clothes or phone — were in the house and Vreeland said he later doubted whether Dylan’s scent had been on the pillowcase.
Redwine seemed ready to answer his questions about what items could be used to track Dylan, Vreeland testified.
“It almost appeared he knew there was nothing in the house before I asked the question,” Vreeland said.
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